NEW DELHI: The families of only 428 doctors, who succumbed to Covid-19 during the first and second wave, have been compensated by the government till Sep 30, 2022, as per a Right to Information (RTI) reply, even though the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has claimed that over 1,500 doctors lost their lives battling the deadly virus in the first two waves.
While the Union Health Ministry had told the parliament in July that there is no “disaggregated data on deaths due to Covid-19 by profession or otherwise is not mandated centrally,” an RTI query has found that from March 30, 2020, to September 30, 2022, 428 deceased doctors’ families have been paid a compensation of Rs.214 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP).
The number is minuscule because, as per the IMA, over 1596 doctors lost their lives in India during the pandemic, said Kannur-based ophthalmologist VK Babu, who had filed the RTI.
“The government has paid compensation to only 428 out of 1596 deceased doctors’ families. This is just 26.8 per cent of the Covid martyrs, who were beneficiaries of the government scheme,” Babu told TNIE.
The Union Health Ministry notified the scheme on March 28, 2020. The scheme was formulated under the auspices of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package and has been labelled the Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting Covid-19. Under the scheme, a personal accident cover has been provided by New India Assurance Company Limited extending to an amount of Rs 50 lakhs.
Babu said during the pandemic, all the practising doctors were at risk of Covid-19 infection, whether general practitioners, specialists or those working in Covid-19 designated hospitals.
“There was an element of compulsion to open the clinics in various parts of the country. Government can't just cite technical reasons and absolve the responsibility of not paying the compensation. All the families of Covid martyr doctors should be protected,” he added.
The total number of beneficiaries under the insurance scheme is 1988, of which the government said in the RTI that an amount of 994 crores had been disbursed. Of the1988 beneficiaries, only 428 are doctors, which is just 22 per cent.
Babu had also sought information regarding how many doctors, who were feted and called Covid warriors during the pandemic, were compensated in Kerala and New Delhi. While in Kerala, all the 29 – 13 in the first wave and 16 in the second wave – doctors' families have been compensated; the figure was minuscule for Delhi, where 150 doctors – 22 in the first wave and 128 in the second wave - died. Only 27 doctors' families have been compensated.
According to Prof. Dr J A Jayalal, immediate past National President, IMA, “This shows the government's audacity to not to collect the proper data of the people who had done yeomen service for the country. The death of the doctors was not due to personal reasons, but it was while saving the millions of people suffering from Corona. The government said they don’t have the data, but the IMC submitted all the details, with a complete address to the government and all the agencies, including Niti Aayog.”
“Unfortunately, the job was assigned to the insurance sector, not the government. They (insurance company) will always get into the nitty-gritty to cutshort and neglect these people,” Dr Jayalal told The New Indian Express.
He also said there had been cases where both the parents (doctors) had died, and the children could not get the proper certificate for filing the claim.
“Many applications were rejected due to clerical issues. Our demand has always been that the government should identify the Covid warriors. They should honour them as a martyr.”
He said the Supreme Court would hear a case in this regard on November 2, and IMA is one of the petitioners. “We hope Covid martyrs get justice from the court.”
Both of them said the major problem was that according to the insurance company, doctors who died should work in designated Covid hospitals. “Many doctors were doing house visits or had opened clinics as the government had directed that even retired medical staff should work during the pandemic. It seems their lives don't matter,” Dr Jayalal added.